CAIRO, W.Va. (AP) - The railroads helped build a number of communities in Ritchie County throughout the 19th and early 20th century, a local historian told a group gathered Jan. 24 at North Bend State Park.
Around 50 people attended the program, “Ritchie County Railroads,” which was presented at the North Bend Lodge by David Scott, president of the Ritchie County Historical Society. In another room, model railroader Cal Malcolm, of Williamstown, set up and ran some of his model trains for people to enjoy.
Scott talked about the railroads that operated in the area, what they hauled, their relationship to area industries, how the trains were modes of transportation for many people and the impact of the railroads on communities throughout Ritchie County.
“I have always felt an obligation to learn as much about the county as I could,” he said. “I have always had an interest in railroads.”
Scott inherited his interest from his parents and had a grandmother who was born in a log cabin in near Auburn, W.Va., in 1885, who told many stories of the area. He had a grandfather who worked on the railroads in Randolph County. He was also involved with a couple of projects detailing the history of the area, including a book in the mid-1980s detailing the photographic history of the county and a book in 1993 detailing 325 local cemeteries.
Scott concentrated on the B&O railroad, Calico and C&K railroad, the Laurel Fork & Sand Hill railroad, P&H/Lorana railroad, E.C&C & Bear Run railroad, the Buky Run railroad and the Harrisville Southern railroad.
“The railroad helped a lot of communities thrive and it created communities,” Scott said.
The rail lines in Ritchie County provided a vital link in the area which ran through Ohio and all the way to St. Louis, Mo. It also created a vital link between Clarksburg and Parkersburg.
“People were always heading west,” Scott said.
The old B&O line was part of the “Parkersburg branch,” running from Grafton to Parkersburg and was completed to Parkersburg in 1857, Scott said.
“It had 23 tunnels,” he said. “Famous author) Mark Twain rode on this line and when he got to Clarksburg, he is said to have commented ’that must have been the Appalachian subway.’
“He also said he felt he was in the dark more than he was in the light.”
Railroads provided a way to transport materials such as oil and gas, minerals from mines as well as timber. A number of oil fields throughout the area were in close proximity to the railroad, including Cairo and Volcano (which is on the site of what is now known as Mountwood Park). Harrisville, Pennsboro and Cornwallis also had ties to the railroads which helped grow those towns as well.
“The railroads helped a number of industries,” Scott said. “Cairo was a boomtown because of the oil and gas industry.
“Somewhere it was said that Cairo had the highest per capita income of any town, supposedly, in the United States.”
Scott showed a picture of a drawing of the town made by a famous artist showing a number of homes in Cairo had oil wells in their yards in the mid to late 19th Century or so.
“They probably did have a high income,” he said. “Cairo benefited greatly from the railroad.”
In the mid-20th Century a number of railroad tunnels were “daylighted,” or opened up as freight was being stacked higher and could no longer fit through the tunnels. Others had the tracks lowered so they could still go through the tunnels.
The railroads also played a big part in transporting livestock, cattle and sheep, for local farmers to sell.
“Farming was an important economic factor throughout the region,” Scott said.
Malcolm and his family have been involved with model railroading since the early 1970s, participating in shows all over the region.
“Like everything, it started small for us,” he said.
Over time it grew, including a whole line with a circus theme. Malcolm knows officials with the park and was told about the railroad discussion. He was asked if he would like to bring some of his trains to be a part of it.
One of his trains was a model typical of what was run through the local area, a narrow gauge train, which is three-feet wide vs. a standard gauge which was 4-feet 8 inches distance between the rails.
“This represents 30 years for us,” Malcolm said.
Scott talked about the decline of the railroads in the area starting in the mid-20th Century and how a number of former railway paths are now trails.
The B&O line route is now the North Bend Rail Trail after the rails had been pulled up around 1988. In 1974, they closed the Pennsboro Depot and then pulled the rails in the late 1980s. Other staples of the railroad in the area were slowly removed or re-purposed over the years.
“After 131 years of railroad history, there are no more rails in Ritchie County,” Scott said.
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Information from: News and Sentinel (Parkersburg, W.Va.), https://www.newsandsentinel.com
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